News of the Western Belize Recreational Area, about 500 square miles of waterfalls, caves, Mayan ruins and pyramids, Belize Alps, foothills, ranches and farms, tourist accomodations of all types and description, tours and expeditions for vacationers and visitors. Even a small growing expatriate retirement group of people from different countries. In Belize, this is where it is happening, all the things that are fun and even serious, with a climate of ETERNAL SPRING.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

UDP GIVE MEDIA A LOOK AT SOME PORT CITY POVERTY HOUSING GRANTS EXPENDITURES!

Apparently there is a bit of a furor in the port town over the poverty housing grants and political explanations were coming forth on how Venezuelan grant money was being spent in some port town constituencies. Area representatives were being interviewed on local TV. The only thing this brings to mind, is that the STAR NEWSPAPER for the TWIN TOWNS could do something similar for local area representatives and get an accounting of who got what, and how it was distributed in Western Belize. The accounting of the disbursement given of the VENEZUELAN HOUSING GRANT process would be enlightening and interesting reading out here.

* The simple 3 person factory produces three basic chocolate bars, prepared from organically grown, jungle shaded cacao trees, to the end product in a very nice wrapper. Comparable to any in the world and a real gourmet item gift.

COTTON TREE CHOCOLATE FACTORY IN TOLEDO, BELIZE

From the jungle to the chocolate bar wrapper in a remote area.

CHANNEL 5 TV PRODUCED AN EXCELLENT NEWS PROGRAM ON THE “COTTON TREE CHOCOLATE FACTORY” IN TOLEDO.

CHOCOLATE CANDY FROM THE JUNGLES OF BELIZE

This news film on tv for Channel 5 on Wednesday night, should be an entrepreneurial training film for budding entrepreneurs in Dangriga, for Dr. Petters Institute summer program and the many small business programs being offered by different NGO’s and agencies around the coastal areas of Belize. It ran the viewer on the evening news program on Wednesday night, through the various steps of a three person chocolate factory. “COTTON TREE CHOCOLATE FACTORY OF TOLEDO DISTRICT OF BELIZE” The first part of the program had me chortling and bursting out laughing so hard, I nearly fell out of my hammock. They were using a 3/8 inch electric, battery powered, hand drill to spin a tumbler that would grind the beans, then they did something else, and after that they dried the bean concoction with a plastic hand held HAIR DRYER from a beauty saloon in a plastic hand basin. Needless to say the quantities of chocolate bars they are producing are very small. Everything else; even though very small scale, as cheap as you could make it, was a GREAT PILOT PROJECT. They had a microwave oven, regular kitchen size, with a turning cage for roasting beans, instead of the usual circular spinning plate you normally get with a micro wave oven. Some of the follow up steps in electric home mixers and and so forth, they seemed to have some very good chocolate making equipment. The finished product when it came out of the mold, looked like real chocolates. The wrapping in aluminum foil with their brand name and the packaging container was also first class. My understanding is they are producing three types of chocolate, a milk chocolate and then two more grades going into the bitter end of chocolate. Bitter chocolate does not favor my palate and as they explained, to eat that stuff is an acquired taste. All in all, I thought they were on the right track indeed, in their little processing shack. Now if they can get an overseas buyer to buy a few dozen bars at a time, with nearby jungle grown, organic chocolate made from start to finish, from the trees in the jungle, all the way to the finished wrapped product, they may grow as an excellent small niche gourmet, brand name business. I can forsee a few hundred thousand dollars a year gross, easily for this factory future. What they need is a foreign importer buyer, who will give them feed back, on mixing the taste to suit local palates in the country they expect to get orders from. So they can match a local market overseas someplace and then they can borrow money from the Development Finance Corporation and get a bit more labor saving equipment and they are away, to grow their enterprise with their abilities. Expanding their market. They are going to need a foreign buyer to nurse them along though. I doubt the bitter chocolate will have any buyers? But who am I to say? They are definitely on the right track. I feel taste and flavor will be the only changes they might have to make, according to whichever foreign firm will support them with unique niche gourmet market chocolate confection orders. If I could get some photographs I would post this on our international news blog to help them out. The Cotton Tree Chocolate Factory has promise and surely are starting out right. The next step is a mentor, or foreign overseas buyer willing to nurse them along, as they improve flavor and increase their capability to make larger quantities with less hand labor. The labor is Garifuna down on the TOLEDO COAST of Belize.

The news in Belize has it that the USA has announced in the media, the cancellation of USA travel entry visas for three members of the Honduran government. The Supreme Court Justice that issued arrest warrants for ex-President Zelaya and two other major players in the Honduran Congress. Other than interfering with the internal affairs in the normal functioning of the Honduran government, the big issue facing Belize and all Central American and Caribbean countries are travel arrangements and abilities controlled by the USA visa system and major international airline hubs being in the USA. It so happens that CARICOM and CENTRAL AMERICA do not for the most part have an INTERNAL AIRLINE. There is no way to go from Belize for example to Jamaica, or St. Kitts, Barbados, Trinidad, Guadalupe, Martinique and so forth to get to Europe, or Asia, or often South American countries. Because the USA Miami, Atlanta, Houston and New Orleans airline hubs in the USA dominate and control the air traffic lanes, we are forced to pass through the USA. This gives the USA an inordinate amount of power as shown in this cancellation of USA travel visas of the three Honduran government people. Literally they are cut off from travel to International Conferences, because they lack a means of flying direct, or connecting to other airlines going to Europe, which in turn connect with Africa and Asia. You must go through the USA for the cheapest route. This gives control of many countries and diplomatic bullying, as expressed in the cancellation of legitimate Honduran members of government US visas, to FORCE THEM to meet the desires of USA Foreign Policy instead of their own country. Currently from Belize to get to South America, if you do not have a USA visa to go UP to North America and then South to South America, you are forced to take the bus to Guatemala City, fly to Mexico City up in North America and then South to South America for example. There are many European flights across in the Eastern Caribbean countries, directly to Europe, but which you cannot reach from Central America directly. The lesson here; is to develop alternate flight routings serving Central American countries and the Caribbean countries. We need a different airline HUB serving our nations outside of the USA. The thing is, that CARICOM countries and most Central American countries are having WAR being waged on them, by Venezuela and ALBA members. This is a covert and subversive war and it looks like the USA is interfering on the side of Venezuela and other ALBA members.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

CUBA'S NEW PRESIDENT RAUL CASTRO HAVING TROUBLE TO GET PEOPLE TO GROW FOOD

Despite a very hard economic year, and because Cuba must import almost everything including their food that they eat, the government of Cuba is having a very hard time this year with a fall in tourism due to world recession. Raul Castro says there is a lot of land that is not being used to grow food and people in towns and cities are not using it in the surrounding area. Cuba is a tightly controlled society and food rationing is one of the CONTROL methods to monitor and subjegate the population. All means of production in Cuba are 90% controlled by the government. They frown seriously on private enterprise. There have been some exceptions in recent years, but should policy change, you stand the chance of being sent to jail, for being bourgoise. A budding capitalist in a strictly controlled communist society. Most people play it safe. The idea of growing food on land the state owns is a deterrent, as owning land is the incentive to development. Also profit on the personal level is against the law in Cuba, as all means of productivity is owned by the Government in the Leninist system. Without incentive in land ownership and guarantees, plus the ability to sell food for a profit, without eventually going to jail as a capitalist when the winds of politics change, limits what Cubans are willing to do. Right now the Cuban government is having a hard time paying for imported food, which they very well know in an open and free democratic society that is capitalist, rewarding sweat equity and investment, could otherwise produce enough food to feed everybody in Cuba and even to export. Unfortunately SOCIALISM in the Cuban Leninist model is flawed, as it is designed to enslave the spirit of human enterprise and does not deal with basic emotions of people in a rewarding manner.

Belmopan is the capital of Belize and a city of around 7000 people. Most civil service working people commute from outer rural areas and the old port town of Belize City down on the coast. This capital city is in the CAYO WEST DISTRICT of Belize. The city was recently doing a budget exercise and reconciliation of accounts. Interesting numbers are that property fees are outstanding to the tune of $1.7 million owing them. Owing also $62,000 from market stall holders. Most of the garbage collection fees are owed, in the amount of $511,915. Roughly the Belmopan City council is owed around $3.2 million, of which it is having trouble collecting. RECONDEV, the old colonial sort of management of the lands of the city of Belmopan is still co-existing with the Belmopan Council, much as the Council complains. The Prime Minister had promised to repeal the RECONDEV ACT, but promises and ACTION are two different things. Nobody can believe a political promise anyway. The double dealing charge comes from insider sources who say that the Prime Minister is planning to turn over RECONDEV land management to the Ministry of Natural Resources. The subject of autonomy of the city of Belmopan and laws needed to do this ,have been the subject of many a debate. So far the idea of a de-centralized governing system, and the idea of autonomy for the capital of the nation is still just TALK on the part of this UDP government. Thus the charge by the Belmopan City Council of double dealing with a forked tongue by the Prime Minister, Dean Barrow. The only thing the Belmopan City council can do is pick up garbage. The council feels that RECONDEV should be dissolved and the land distribution issue given over to the Belmopan City Council. The problem is with people squatting on lands of RECONDEV, around the planned suburbs of Belmopan. Not all the suburbs of Belmopan have running water yet, but a Honduran company will be brought in to finish the job. Belmopan cannot grow, because the whole mess is in conflict with different feudal bureaucracies.

* RED COMMUNISM winning ten or more countries in the Americas already for the new EMPIRE of CHAVEZ.

* The buffoon who fooled all the smart people and turned EMPEROR of ten countries in the AMERICAS.

REGIONAL NEWS

VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT CHAVEZ GIVES MILITARY AID TO THE TERRORIST BANDIT ARMY FARC operating in Colombia.

In the latest news on Wednesday morning, July 29th, 2009. Colombia captures a TERRORIST ARMS cache of the FARC bandit terrorist group practicing kidnapping, extortion, land grabbing, drug smuggling and sales and acting as killers for both Venezuela and Ecuador, the Colombians find surface to air missiles in FARC hands. Tracing the missiles, leads back to SWEDEN, in EUROPE. The SWEDES say they did not sell the missiles to the FARC, but to the VENEZUELAN government of President Chavez. Chavez is the EMPEROR of the ALBA federation waging war in the AMERICAS to expand his empire building ambitions. CHAVEZ is a long time senior commandante of the FARC and was once released from jail by FARC intervention, when caught during a COUP attempt in Venezuela. The FARC terrorist army also brag in captured laptop computer records, of paying for, and putting President Correa of ECUADOR in office as their puppet, and controlling that country as well. Colombia has enemies on two sides. Colombia faces a two front war. There is some attempt to apparently seduce leftist President Colom of Guatemala, to join the ALBA federation, if not in fact, then surreptiously putting Honduras in a squeeze with a two front war in the future. EMPEROR CHAVEZ this Wednesday morning breaks diplomatic relations AGAIN, with his neighbor Colombia over the news announcement that he aided the FARC terrorist army with missiles, as told by SWEDEN. Emperor Chavez of Venezuela oil riches also threatens to seize all Colombian private investment in VENEZUELA by Colombian bourgeois investors in retaliation, attempting censorship of the news. Chavez has already silenced almost all opposition and media outlets within Venezuela. Chavez is also complaining about two new drug fighting airplane air strips in Eastern Colombia, used to fight the WAR on DRUGS financed by the USA. The FARC terrorist bandit army have rebuilt their numbers through kidnapping youngsters and training through TORTURE, FEAR and TERROR in remote jungle camps. Girl soldiers are forced to prostitute themselves to the men on monthly rotations of male assignment and are severely punished if they get pregnant. Captured people are chained to trees in the jungle by the neck, like a wild animal. On this remnant of the old COLD WAR front, a new war threat is announced by ex-President ZELAYA, of Honduras, another would be KING and President for Life accused of stealing $40 million dollars of poor peoples tax money, just a couple of days before he was ousted from office, due to various illegalities with changing the Constitution of Honduras against the wishes of his own political party and the Honduran Congress. ZELAYA has announced the beginning of a guerrilla army, in Central America, based in Nicaragua, to take over the government of Honduras by subversion and invasion, assisted and aided by President ORTEGA, the ALBA EMPIRE king, or President for Life of Nicaragua. Nicaragua borders on the south with Honduras. ZELAYA was once a communist/socialist/neo-liberal guerrilla as a young man, and photos of him can be found on the internet armed to the teeth. He has recently found assistance from President for Life CORREA, now controlling the country of ECUADOR, who has eliminated the FREE MEDIA and switched all the MILITARY HIGH COMMAND in Ecuador to his own leftist commanders. Other assistance was recently offered and accepted by ZELAYA, ex President of Honduras from President Kirschner of Argentina, who was once a young leader of the Communist Montenero guerillas in the internal civil war in Argentina, when she was a young communist revolutionary ( according to internet searches ). She and her husband eventually won that Argentinian civil war and now control the country of Argentina, another ALBA EMPIRE associate. Most major government positions in Argentina are now occupied by previous Montenero communist guerrillas. The mothers of missing persons kidnapped and tortured by the Montenero communist guerrillas claim they are being discriminated against and compensation for lost loved ones in the civil war are being denied to them, and only issued to the communist Montenero mothers, famous for walking with signs in front of the Palace in Argentina, in confrontation with the past military right wing regime that tried to stamp out the six year communist guerrilla civil war. The other side of the disappeared, done by the communist Montenero’s in that civil war, now holding the government power in Argentina, are denying them, the mothers of the government people of that time, or innocent bystanders, equal compensation. A one sided deal, which is festering old civil war wounds in Argentina. PRESIDENT EVO MORALES of BOLIVIA another ALBA EMPIRE communist/socialist/neo liberal ( whatever they call themselves these days ) announced earlier this week, that he will eliminate the CATHOLIC CHURCH from BOLIVIA. BOTH PRESIDENT CORREA OF ECUADOR AND PRESIDENT CHAVEZ OF VENEZUELA are clandestine members of the FARC TERRORIST ARMY operating with a 12,000 member bandit army across the terrorities of ECUADOR and VENEZUELA and into armed conflict in the country of COLOMBIA. CARICOM recently broke into pieces, with the seduction away of four of the CARICOM countries by CHAVEZ of VENEZUELA in return for promises of oil and food to these impoverished island countries, that now can be staging areas and transshipment points for weapons and drugs. Other problems arose and were magnified in a recent Caricom Heads Meeting, when a lot of excuses for Federation were brought to a head, in that politicians did not wish to allow free passage of CARICOM citizens in some of the countries. The CARICOM HEADS fear upsetting the voting groupings and overloading social services is what they said. THE COLD WAR is spreading in the American Continent. Even in the USA, the current USA Marxist trained President OBAMA was covered yesterday Tuesday, on the FOX TELEVISION news, by a program that described the slow steady plans of OBAMA to change the fabric of the democratic society of the USA into a MARXIST style state. Foremost of which is the formation of a RED GUARD civilian youth brigade compulsory for young people, but using a JOB CORPS type pseudonym. The program will be mandatory for indoctrination purposes. Part of the hierarchy of the setup for take over and change of the USA to another ALBA style country was explained on the blackboard, in a presentation by FOX NEWS on cable tv. ACORN is about three levels down in the overall hierarchy of the OBAMA plan, but a major administrator. Known communists have been placed in major key points in the US Government administration, the NEWS program breakdown explained and named the key people of OBAMA for the change, or subversion ( pick your own adjective ). ACORN also prepared the FISCAL STIMULUS plan mostly adopted with little change, by the DEMOCRATIC PARTY CONGRESS, Fox TV said. Within the US Government there is now a tug and war of CIA and MILITARY right wing capitalist style, free world, capitalism, versus the MARXIST communist trained key administration people and the OBAMA plan for change of AMERICA into an ALBA style country, under what eventually can only be a DICTATORSHIP. Recently another television program, of which the leading announcer was threatened by the channel television owners with dismissal ( according to internet chatter ) for bringing up the subject of senior officers in the USA military establishment in court cases asking for legal verification of the place of OBAMA’s birth, as news. This TV program was reportedly told to cease and desist or be fired, according to the internet news. Last gossip I heard was even an ARMY GENERAL joined the military officer lawsuits; as an illegal PRESIDENT of the USA, by the US Constitution, would make military personel overseas WAR CRIMINALS. Kenya politicians claim OBAMA was born in KENYA and is Kenyan by birth, but a dual citizen as his mother had his birth registered in Hawaii, using the absentee short form birth certificate, along with a newspaper advertisement. The place of birth is in contention because of the rules of the US Presidency qualifications stipulating birth must occur within the continental USA states. You can be a US citizen if born elsewhere, but cannot run for Presidential office is my understanding? Foreign countries are reducing their holdings of debt in US treasuries due to the uncertainties and wild expansion of printing of USA currency expected to result in inflation. The COLD WAR is back and in the AMERICAN CONTINENT 34 countries. Currently one third of the countries on the American continent are directly involved in this ideological cold war. Except this war is now turning HOT and is subversive. This is a war of ideologies for control of the AMERICAS. One party state communist/socialist totalitarianism, versus a more open democratic capitalist society. The Democrat party in the USA have sided with socialist communism, versus opposition from the Republicans who want a more democratic type society. Socialism history shows; makes every body slaves and equally poor mostly. Except the ones controlling the process at the top. It is also a more rigid controlled type society, like the old FASCIST regimes of yesteryear. As the CHINESE say “May you live in interesting times! )

We caught the interview on television Monday evening, to do with the Venezuelan Housing Grants. It was very obvious from what the Prime Minister of Belize said; that he was trying his best to cover up UDP CORRUPTION in the housing grant process, from Venezuela. We didn’t buy his story, but was willing to listen. The whistle blower, whoever it was and the newspapers over the last weekend that published the story are believable. I can say that from witnessing such programs many times over the past 45 years in Belize. The way the Prime Minister Barrow explained the process. The Area Representative ( UDP ) would submit names to a COMMITTEE for housing grants. They were supposed to be for helping the poor. Which most people understood to be building houses and giving of them with lots, in some sort of program to poor people in need of houses. It didn’t mean renovations to existing houses, which already puts the owners in the middle class, who own land and a house of some kind, which costs money. They have an asset they can mortgage for a renovation loan. This was money earmarked for the POOR. People who already own a lot and a house, no matter how decrepit are not the poor. They are middle class. Nor should it have meant interference by a political area representative biased toward his or her campaign supporters. Now if the Prime Minister of Belize, Dean Barrow had said, there were gazetted a list of names of qualified poor people needing homes in the GAZETTE, or someplace for the public to read, we could more understand the process. Then if there was not enough money for everybody who was poor and needy, then you held a LOTTERY, which method has been tried in previous administrations. The give away; was the PM’s verbal qualification that the AREA REPRESENTATIVE a political party person got to contribute to the distribution process. Pure politics. Weighing the excuses given by the Prime Minister, we find his sorry tale, weak and false. This was a campaign supporter give-a-way and I agree with the whistle blower, whoever it was and the newspaper whichever published the story. The story resulted in 2 points on the corruption report card results to be deducted from the previous score of 50, down to 48 on the score card. The judgment is that the loss of points is justified and that the UDP acted corruptly when they could have done it properly and didn’t. The Prime Minister also loses points for integrity, character and honesty for making such a blatant cover up attempt. His ethics are less than good.

The story is not over yet, because this political party corrupt use of poor peoples housing grants from Venezuela, being used through the political party chain of commmand, is obviously going to escalate in eventual cost and I wouldn't be surprised to see it increase from $20 million to $75 million over the next two decades as a direct tax cost to citizens all over Belize.

Monday, July 27, 2009

The dam has allegedly got a crack in it in Belize. So we were gossiping on main street and a tour guide was telling me that the animals around the lake of the dam were doing good. He estimated about 500 Scarlet Macaw and he said the Guatemala XATEROS were netting them and the baby birds in the nests to sell in Guatemala. The Tour Guide told me the species in Belize is unique to Belize and exists no where else in the world. They are different than those found in Costa Rica. He also described canoing up to the Raspaculla Canyon and said that the scenery is horrible. Apparently they cut the stumps off about two miles up river from the Chalillo Dam and the area looks nice and the water is crystal clear, but further up, there are dead trees sticking out of the water, that get flooded and dried and stinking up a mess and also polluting the water making it dark black. He did not recommend taking any tourists up there.

ZELAYA AND CONFEDERATE STEAL $40 MILLION FROM POOR PEOPLE OF HONDURAS TAX REVENUES ?

( reporting from Belize a Northern neighbor of Honduras )

The thing that sticks in the minds of us in Belize, a neighbor of Honduras, is all the furor over the alleged thief, that was ex-President Zelaya. We have enough stealing by politicians in small Belize, to be accustomed to lying deceitful thieves in government positions.. Yet, if we were the legal Honduran government, I cannot understand, why they have not issued an ARREST WARRANT for Mr. ZELAYA for the alleged theft of $40 million dollars, which occurred, according to the news reports, 2 or 3 days before his deportation. There was a report from Europe in the international news, that INTERPOL would not issue a requested arrest warrant for Mr. Zelaya, the ex-president of Honduras, on the grounds, the issue is political. By the same token, the Europeans keep spreading disinformation and the lie that there was a military coup in Honduras, which we in Belize know better, being more familiar with these things happening in Honduras. So if you cannot trust Europeans to stick to the FACTS and the TRUTH, I guess one cannot get their INTERPOL to do proper police work either? Still I do think our legal Honduran government across the water, from the southern area of our country, should at least insist on any outside foreign influences creating a disinformation campaign over what is happening in Central America, make it obvious to them; that until Mr. Zelaya gives back the alleged $40 million poor peoples tax revenue he has stolen, there will be no negotiations of any kind. The man is a criminal and a thief, like all the ALBA Group’President for Life’ group of ‘tyrants for life’ throughout the Americas. Just an opinion from Belize, the Northern neighbor of Honduras.

Belize uses the Justice of the Peace system of the British Monarchy. In the olden days, the Justice of the Peace would be a judge and sentence people to jail, or death and could hang them. At least in England. Here in Belize in more modern times, they act as J.P.’ which role is confined to signing as a witness on legal documents. As of this month, the nation now has almost 3000 J.P.’s. Our system is unlike the USA system. In that USA system, anybody who is of sound character and has no police record, can apply to be a J.P. Most offices and banks have a J.P. on staff in the USA. It is voluntary and FREE. Here in Belize, the J.P. is a political position and is an appointment made by the Attorney General. Personally, given the history of the British system, I prefer we would have the USA system. I dislike politics being used to provide an intermediary, between the public, the business community and open to misuse of political power. Even in Belize this awful British system, gives political appointed J.P.’s to so call ( hic! ) PRESERVE THE PEACE, receive complaints in respect of summary convictions, or indictable offences, issue warrants to apprehend people and throw them in jail, or issue search warrants and to administer oaths. This political control bias for a ruling oligarchy is very bad in my opinion and something we Belizeans should change to the USA system.

Btl our major local telephone company, says they are not responsible for the dropped telephone calls coming to Belize, or hard connects, or disconnects from overseas. The many service complaints are originating in the USA. The local major telephone company says the problem is the usage in the USA of cheaper price carriers, that are overloaded for their minimal systems and these can fail to connect to the International BTL junction just off Miami by fiber optic cable to carry traffic to Belize. I wouldn’t know about that, as even inside Belize we cannot get copper wire, landline service in our section of Santa Elena Town, a fast growing city. We’ve been complaining for 16 years or more and still no reliable telephone service here. In fact, the inability of the country of Belize to provide standard, regular telephone service and reliability is making us look this coming year, to moving business operations to Guatemala, across the border, so we can operate as an efficient business. Hate to do it, but what the heck, ENOUGH is ENOUGH. We have to eat too!

* Evan Hyde getting older now, created a media empire based on racism by the Caribbean port town Black culture, against the many other ethnic Belize citizens. Nowadays he claims he is no longer racist.

OLIGARCHY OF BELIZE IN THE PORT TOWN ATTACK OTHER BELIZEANS FOR BEING THRIFTY AND HARD WORKING !

Jealousy and envy, some of the cardinal sins. There is a constant barrage of complaints and criticisms against any other skin color in Belize, by the CAPITALIST CREOLE OLIGARCHY of the port town of Belize City, against other Belizeans of different skin pigmentation, or language, led by one of the most richest capitalist families in the nation of Belize. The HYDE extended family, owners of a media complex including newspapers, radio and television interest, worth MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, controlled and run by in their favor, for their family networks and aspirants in national politics, or port city politics. The stuff gets very tiresome sometimes, being constantly fed such a one sided racist attitude of criticism. In the history of Belize, there have been waves of immigrants. The British and Scotch who took the land from the Mayan indigenous Indians ( who are still here ), who ( the British and Scotch families ) have pretty much passed on, to the Blacks of Africa, to Hindus from India, to Arabs from Palestine and Lebanon, to Mexicans from Mexico, to Guatemalans, Mexicans and Hondurans from neighboring Republics, white Caucasian people from European and North American countries and in the latest wave of immigration into Belize we have the Chinese from Taiwan and mainland China. All we are missing are Koreans to make this Belize a real melting pot. The HEARTLAND OF BELIZE in the current era, is being developed successfully by Belizeans who are WHITE, BLOND HAIRED and BLUE EYED, much to the HATE and JEALOUSY of the RICH, HYDE OLIGARCHY racist CREOLE CAPITALISTS of the port of Belize City. The most recent article disguised as a learned tome on Neo Colonialism, but which might be more identified, a discussion of International Corporations which are bigger than most countries in the world. The trans national story was written by Bill Lindo, who can write a good story sometimes, albeit with a racial twist. Promoted by the RICH CAPITALIST MEDIA OLIGARCHY of the extend Hyde family and relations of the port town in their propaganda mouthpiece the AMANDALA newspaper, which they brag is the biggest, most widely circulated newspaper in Belize and worth millions of dollars alone. This weekend the Amandala of July 26, 2009 takes aim in an outpouring of jealousy and envy against the successes of an Immigrant wave that occurred about 52 years ago of a small bunch of Mexican WHITE , CAUCASIAN, MENNONITES who immigrated to Belize. These immigrants are now into the THIRD GENERATION of BORN BELIZEANS. Some of them are even FOURTH GENERATION but still babies. The statistics the AMANDALA through BILL LINDO throws out are substantial and something ALL Belizeans should be proud of. The hard work ethic, family values, good parenting and schooling, are all success stories, while the port town of Belize City population are falling apart. There is a definite CULTURE CLASH, in which values of family and children and hard work, come up against an imbedded Caribbean culture of laziness, a desire to have salaried employment in soft salaried clerical jobs and multiple children from a whole bunch of different fathers, as in the single mother syndrome. Despite hundreds of millions of dollars, or perhaps more rightly several BILLIONS of dollars, spent on the port town by their politicians, the cultural clash has not gone away, in living styles and values. The most recent article in the AMANDALA is a case in point. One set of BELIZEANS belittling the accomplishments of another set of Belizeans based on jealousy, envy, racism and skin color. In Bill Lindo’s article, these WHITE BELIZEANS are painted as neo colonialists, taking away land from Belizeans ( CREOLES is the inference ). The statistics are fairly accurate and a good success story of hard working Belizeans, who are building the Nation of Belize. Making opportunities and not waiting for a salaried job, or handouts from Government politicians in Caribbean style patronage. They are saving, struggling, sweating with hard work and toil, using borrowed money from their Credit Unions. Bill Lindo the mouthpiece for the HYDE extended oligarchy in the AMANDALA newspaper accuse these hard working BELIZEANS of doing a LAND GRAB. I guess by his definition, if you borrow money and buy land to expand farming for your children to have opportunities, this makes a Belizean of white skin color a NEO-COLONIALIST? I didn’t get the argument myself? The HYDE OLIGARCHY AND RICH CAPITALISTS they are, can do the same if they are so orientated. I think the statistics speak for themselves showing what sweat equity and hard work and saving can accomplish. Currently Bill says 12,000 hectares of what once was wild tall jungle unwanted by anybody in the port town on the coast is now in production in agriculture. Grain production is planned by this hard working group of native Belizeans for another 6000 hectares. I think 2.2 acres equal one hectare? In importing, these people who have cooperatives of their own in myriad religious social groupings are accused of importing 70% of all the tires in Belize. I’m not sure if that is a crime, but when you run exporting semi trailer 18 wheeler convoys of agriculture products, farm machinery, and tractors, I guess you are going to need a lot of tires? It sure beats using horses for productivity anyway. The CREOLE run and controlled government could never supply the infra-structure, they lack the management capabilities. So this WHITE, BLOND HAIRED, BLUE EYED Belizean group of 17,000 or so, have had to make their own schools, their own electrical service systems and their own roads and bridges. To do this they pay their taxes to support the BLACK controlled government of Belize and then they tax themselves again to pay for their own infra-structure requirements outside of government. If this is a crime, I wish the port of Belize City could do something similar. Other statistics thrown out by BILL and the HYDE OLIGARCHY, are that the white Belizeans import 53% of all hardware sales ( when you produce export stuff, you use a lot of hardware ), this heartland does 80% of all the steel fabrication and importing. Of all the bridge and road works in the nation, this group also do 75 % of it all. Farm machinery of course must be imported and 80% of the nation’s farm machinery is imported by them. Machine shops and such work, account for 67% of all that is done in the nation. The new ITVET Community College system was supposed to disseminate those skills and abilities as we need more around the country. This group of hard workers, grow ALL the chicken consumed in the country. Produce most of the eggs. They started originally 50 years ago with half a dozen birds. This group also produces 62% of all the hogs and there is a whole export industry waiting for somebody else to start processing and exporting, processed, pork products. 45% of all the beef in the country this group does. 95% of fresh milk is produced by this group and the horizon and opportunities for dairy farms and export products like cheese are wide open as opportunities for anyone. We have a big shortage of milk cows and dairy farms. The cheese makers cannot get enough milk. We are hoping Salvadoranean immigrants can be induced to come to Belize to expand this sector. The group produces 65% of the ice cream, 95% of fresh milk, 92% of dry beans, which we consume locally and have enough to EXPORT for foreign exchange. This group produces 82% of all corn ( also consumed locally and exported ), 81% of the rice, 52% of animal feeds. 56% of all the foods consumed in Belize are produced by this group and is worth about $127.41 million. While about 5% of the population of Belize, these WHITE SKINNED, BORN BELIZEANS, BLUE EYED and often with BLOND HAIR, numbering about 15,000 producers have an impact on the nation of Belize out of proportion to their numbers. We have a population of over 300,000. Current production by this group is valued at $208 million. They re-invest ALL their money back into the Belize economy. Unlike foreign ROBBER BARON investor types that make politicians rich with bribes and retainer fees. Bill says this WHITE Belizean group control between 12 to 14% of the Belize productive sector of our economy. Their hard work, earns the foreign exchange either directly by exporting, or by import substitution saving borrowing and spending by others in the consumer sector. Why the jealousy and envy you wonder? We can’t understand it? Mostly based on a declining political power base I suppose, as new IMMIGRANTS must come into Belize to build this nation. This was the story of Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the USA as well. Lets face it, South side of Belize City have big cultural differences with these new immigrant groups who are so needy, they MUST WORK HARD. They can’t play the political patronage game like the denizens of the port town. It is work, save and invest, or starve for new immigrants. I thought the attempt to paint our white born in Belize farmers and industrialists as Neo Colonialists very sad in Bill’s article. It smacked of old fashioned, northern temperate zone USA Black Panther racist arguments in a Caribbean/Central American nation that has always been dominated by the black population in government and politics, looking for excuses for their jealousy. Most of that particular target group of 5000 White Mexicans that immigrated to Belize more than 50 years ago are dead now. You are dealing with born in Belize Belizeans who are hard workers with a different culture than found in the port town of Belize City. They believe in family, solid homes and children. The opportunities in Belize are endless. It would be more appropriate for Bill Lindo to be writing about how his teenagers in the port can make themselves rich with the many chances they have. You can start a business with $300, it doesn’t take much, but dedication and sweat equity. It costs more than that to buy a gun and ammunition to rob and steal. Calling white Belizeans with family values and hard work ethics, neo colonialists is not accurate. Not much future in that.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

CARICOM has broken up. One of the main sticking points were the free movement of peoples as citizens of the greater nation of CARICOM. Jamaica didn't want it at all. They are afraid they will get swamped by other islanders. Nor does Barbadoes much in the news recently in deporting Caricom nationals, not of Barbados. Trinidad neither wants them. Therein lies the rub behind the decades of rhetoric. Current Presidents, or Prime Minister's do not want to become second class citizens in their own countries with new titles of State Governor instead of a Prime Minister or President on the International scene. CARICOM had gone as far as egos, pride and self interest in getting rich would allow and CARICOM never could get past this point at all. It all came out in the last Heads of Government meeting. Nobody was going to budge an inch. Certainly not Barbados, Trinidad, Cayman, or Jamaica. So there you have it. With the additional loss of four countries from Caricom, to the ALBA Communist block as the new totalitarian IRON CURTAIN drops over Latin America and the Caribbean for oil gifts. Plus a new organization of Eastern Caribbean States with their own airline and currency. CARICOM as a dream is all over now. Only need to mop up the blood on the floor, fire a few CARICOM secretariat people, cut the budget allocations and we are back to square one. I'm glad thats over with. It was a foregone conclusion, but the politicians and bureaucrats rode it for along time, for the expense paid trips and so called business meetings, when they were actually vacationing and playing BIG MAN to the ignorant masses of their own countries. It is a wonder we the masses tolerated this CHARADE as long as we did? Still we in the Caribbean tend to be apathetic about such things.

* Another view of Victoria Peak a mountain climbers goal for Belize.* view of Victoria Peak in the Belize Alps far in the distance. * Mountain climbers struggling up Victoria Peak from the Jaguar Park reserve.

* Another Foreign Policy loser for Belize in the governing UDP. This is Elrington a lawyer. * The loser, Prime Minister a whiz at party politics but a great big DUNCE in Foreign Policy.

* Patrick Faber ( Minister of Education ) rising star in the political party governing Belize. Expected to replace Dean Barrow in the next elections.

CARICOM IMPLODES AND IS NO MORE ! THE DEATH KNELL HAS SOUNDED.

Caricom has followed the demise of the Federation of the West Indies. Glen Godfrey a lawyer and writer in Belize has done a masterful explanation and analysis of what finally happened at the last CARICOM heads meeting. We would reprint the analysis on our BLOG, but as it is copyrighted, we cannot do so. In a nutshell. The Eastern Caribbean island chain has gone independent in their own grouping, with their own common passport and currency, under the organization of oil rich TRINIDAD. Where Barbados belongs in this grouping is not known, but we suspect it remains a remnant of British Empire of some sort of classification. Four island countries have joined the ALBA South American grouping, signing allegiance to Emperor Hugo Chavez in return for oil supplies and food supplies the media announced. Jamaica is going it alone, with forty years of very poor leadership, which cannot withstand the stresses of the current World Depression. The past leaders of Jamaica were so obsessed with PRIDE and EGO, that they ran themselves heavily into DEBT, maintaining at taxpayer expense a number of institutions they could not afford, like AIR JAMAICA which alone cost them $500 million a year in subsidies, but is now no more. Guyana, Belize, Cayman and Jamaica seem to be out in the cold, each separated from the others by vast distances and insurmountable obstacles of transportation and commercial inter-connection. Each of these must go their own way, the best they can. Belize our country on the remote far away, Western Caribbean Rim, is partially involved with Central America and Mexico and it is expected if the present UDP government has any sense at all, they will strengthen our economic ties to Central America. The coastal black controlled UDP government are not renowned for common sense though and our Prime Minister wears a DUNCES cap regarding our Belize Foreign Policy. Nowadays, daily buses, good roads and services in general, connect us rapidly and efficiently with Central America and Mexico. Our future is here. CARICOM basically broke up. There may be some final death throes as the Caricom secretariat bureaucrats fight to keep the subsidy cash flows for maintaining their jobs. In all other senses, CARICOM is no more! The venture no longer exists, except in the imaginations and dreams of an entrenched bureaucracy. In the meantime, Caricom supporters are flopping around like a dead fish on the floor boards of your fishing boat, or a chicken running around the back yard with it's head already cut off. The recent flood of CARICOM passports in Belize are now COLLECTORS items and probably will fetch a good price eventually, on E BAY, as a piece of history that no longer exists. The question is,; what will the dominant Creole Caribbean orientated population of the port Belize City do now? Skin color bothers them and many are blatant racists and will fight to the death not to expand business and economics with the Maya of Guatemala and the Mestizos of Salvador and Honduras. Even our Prime Minister, Dean BARROW who was Caricom Chairman recently will have a very hard time adjusting to pragmatic realities in this new world, in which CARICOM is nothing and has no meaning. Our Prime Minister hasn't shown any common sense at all in Foreign policy so far in his term of office. Patrick Faber is looking like the best replacement for leader of the UDP when Dean Barrow retires at the end of this term. So there is hope a little bit. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall and Humpty Dumpty took a great fall. Unfortunately, these pieces cannot be put back together again. The dream of British orientated intellectuals, for a Caribbean Federation, mostly in Jamaica and Barbados is over. Belizeans face a brave new world, but will our current leadership be able to adapt? That is the question?

Things are not looking good for our Prime Minister Dean Barrow in the public opinion of Belizeans, regarding his actions with Honduras and Caricom and OAS voting on the Honduras affair. Latest news being reported out of Honduras being published by La Prensa are saying that 2 or 3 days ( this is second hand news ) before the government, including his own political party sent ZELAYA packing to Costa Rica and EXILE, that a henchman very close to ZELAYA the ex-President of Honduras went to the TREASURY and took out $40 million dollars. Apparently alarm bells went off, but it took some time for the bureaucracy to move. The funny thing about the missing $40 million dollars taken from the treasury of tax revenue collections of Honduras, was that there was no PUBLIC PURPOSE. Nor was the money wire transferred, or issued in a bank draft. The guy a close buddy of ZELAYA and in his personal CABAL, who allegedly serves on ZELAYA’s negotiation team in Costa Rica, for a return to Honduras with no conditions, and is currently attempting to forment a civil war inside Honduras, insisted on the $40 million in CASH. Not in paper instruments, but CASH MONEY that can fit in suitcases, or cardboard boxes. He got the money and left, with the authority of ZELAYA while he was still President. The Honduran government bureaucracy finally acted and sent the POLICE in Tegucigalpa to the ZELAYA’s henchman’s house to search for the STOLEN MONEY. What they found instead turned out to be a surprise. It was an office loaded with referendum voting computers with all the voting records in Honduras and summed up the VOTING results, giving the win on the so-called REFERENDUM to ZELAYA to change the constitution of Honduras. Since the referendum was thwarted and never done, how then could ZELAYA and his henchman accused of stealing $40 million dollars from tax revenues in Honduras have WON a referendum that never happened? Talk about criminal minds at work in political Presidential circles. What concern is it of ours? Well our Prime Minister, Dean Barrow of Belize in the weekend newspapers, is also the Minister of Finance in our government. Dean Barrow recently has been getting propaganda sound bites, bragging about taking back $20 million in a GRANT from Venezuela given to former Prime Minister of Belize, Said Musa to Belize BANK, to pay off a GOVERNMENT GUARANTEED LOAN, Musa had taken when he was in office. The Belize Bank in the meantime, is saying; the interest charges are running again now and if this works out true to form, the tax payer, probably through the GST tax will have to pay the Belize Bank if ever it can be done with the huge National DEBT we currently have, over many decades and will probably make ASHCROFT the owner of Belize Bank even richer, as it will undoubtedly mushroom to a BELIZE BANK debt of $75 million before the saga is done. The fault will be that of Prime Minister Dean Barrow. Musa maybe didn’t do right, but he did the best thing at the time for the public interest. Now we owe more than ever before, legally to the Belize Bank because of the actions of our Prime Minister Dean Barrow. The thing is; despite public protestations about our foreign policy on the Honduras issue and I personally support the actions of the current Honduran government, because I feel in my heart that wanna be PRESIDENT FOR LIFE, Mr. ZELAYA is nothing but a crook and would be tyrant. ZELAYA wants to get his hands on all the government treasury in Honduras is my opinion. Sort of like Mugabwe of Zimbabwe did over decades. Our own Prime Minister in Belize has taken the foreign policy issue of condemning what he says is something not legal happening in Honduras. He is condemning by his actions and speeches, the actions of the lawful government of Honduras. Now I question not only our Prime Minister’s, ethics and logic in foreign policy, because coming back to the $20 million GRANT from Venezuela to Belize, for poverty housing and the reason that the current Prime Minister strong armed Belize Bank to get it refunded, the weekend newspapers and investigative reporters are saying; that $2 million of this money was spent properly on hurricane and flood victims, while the other $$18 million has gone, NOT TO poverty people to build them houses, the purposes of the VENEZUELAN GRANT and give them land, but to UDP connected upper middle class, cronies, party hacks and connected people in his UDP party as IMPROVEMENT LOAN GRANTS, which monies was intended to go to housing for the poor. A sort of payoff for campaigning for him and his party to get into office, during the last election. There is no confirmation accounting being done for these monies, that we know of, so our local investigative media say? The thing is, if you are ethical and looking at conspiracy theories, there is a co-incidence in the Foreign Policy coming out of Belize, coming from the Prime Minister’s office that does not gell with the FACTS. ( if you believe in co-incidences? ) What it looks like; to us in the public cheap seats, is one alleged Criminal ( voting to protect the prerogatives of ZELAYA as former President), like he would like his own prerogatives here in Belize, to be protected, when mis-using poverty house building GRANT FUNDS to reward his campaign workers instead. There is nothing we can do; other than take 2 points off the corruption poll, or UDP government report card and announce it to the International media, for a problem in what we view as ethics, misuse of government poverty GRANT funds for political purposes, and what seems to be on the surface, misuse of the Foreign Policy voting rights of Belize, to protect a CROOK who once was President of Honduras, like our Prime Minister would like to be protected by his neighbors when caught with his ETHICS in tatters, his judgment either flawed, or of criminal intent. There are those who have debated with me, saying I’m reading too much in our FOREIGN POLICY issues done by our Belize Prime Minister and that it is nothing more than the stupidness of a lawyer so steeped in British Pirate Parliamentary Law, extrapolated to a REPUBLIC style government in Honduras, that Dean Barrow gets lost in minutia and cannot see the big picture, to make wise FOREIGN POLICY decisions. Either way you intrepret our Prime Minister, Dean Barrow actions, it costs the Prime Minister and the UDP two points off their governing report card. Which goes from a score of 50 to 48 in the opinion poll in Western Belize. There are of course wheels within wheels and as a retired fisherman, we are more pragmatic and usage of common sense is high on our judgment scale. We cannot understand either the ethics, or the Foreign Policy judgment of our Prime Minister. What seems so simple to me, is obviously buried somewhere in the convolutions of lawyer type political thinking and reasoning.

* Summer supply of tomatoes meeting problems of supply in Belize. Tomatoes are scarce as farmers try to figure out what is going wrong?

LETTER TO ANDY AND WIFE ON SMALL FARM NEAR PUNTA GORDAFrom Ray Auxillou, July 23rd, 2009

Dear Andy ( re your query )

People are having a lot of trouble with tomatoes, due to night time heat, which they don’t like during the summers, and the need to find more suitable varieties for the environment of Belize. Experimental research is ongoing. You can divide tomatoes into two groups. The varieties that will grow between late April through first half of September and the rest of the year. I’ve tried many dozens of varieties of tomatoes with the assistance of foreign volunteers and donors mailing me seeds. The best Fall and Winter tomatoes have been the POLINA, which I bought from the local Agro Pro Store in the Twin Towns in Western Belize. The first batch were produced in Israel, the last batch I bought at the local Agro store were produced from Chile. The packs are very expensive, about $78 and the seeds cost about .10 cents each that way. I don’t know if you have feed and agro stores in Punta Gorda? Summer tomatoes that do reasonable are the cherry type tomatoes and plum type tomatoes. They are not really satisfactory though as a tomato crop in the tropics is tough to grow. I’ll stick to POLINA right now for next FALL and WINTER trials. We get a lot of destruction from insects, nematodes, white fly, mosaic disease and a few other good stuff that like tomatoes. They are a difficult crop. What I’ve experienced is that you cannot plant tomatoes in the same ground again. Nor can you plant them in plots, or many rows. Just do one long single row, then switch to another location far away for next time. All vegetables like humus, or loam soil. You have to make it, if you don’t have it naturally. You get wiped out quickly. For the last two months there have been a scarcity of tomatoes in the Macal River market stalls of the TWIN TOWNS out West here and I suspect you will not be getting much in the way of tomatoes in Punta Gorda at all. At least not until you plant in late September and reap around January? There is a book I wrote on research of vegetable growing. I sent a FREE COPY to the guy that mines and sells DOLOMITE LIME in Punta Gorda. Ask him to borrow the book, which was the state of the art in vegetable growing in Belize up to a year ago. You might ask your local National Library librarian in Punta Gorda, to order the book from Belize City, or Belmopan National Library service. I gave them some FREE BOOKS. They did not buy any, and the publishing effort cost me about $700 each time I published a small lot of two dozen. They are now out of print. Nor do I have the spare cash any more, to publish again. I don’t have the money to support the Government of Belize. We quit doing that vegetable research printing, since the government Ministry of Natural Resources received European Union GRANT money to do those sort of things. They are unlikely to do anything so useful for small farmers. That is my experience. The government is terrible about disseminating useful information, hence my BLOG. The book you want is the last edition, or the FOURTH EDITION of the Belizean Vegetable Farmers Bible, published September, 2007. Your contact person is Teresita, who is the Central Farm Agriculture vegetable agronomist. Her e-mail is: gissy031@hotmail.com Government bureaucrats don’t respond to e-mails mostly, though they get a salary.Central Farm has some vegetable research funds and they have extension officers all over the country. I’m not sure how that works, but there must be one near you and you should ask for a personal visit by them. Right now vegetable growing research is still in infancy and it is a bit like the blind leading the blind. Research we did, showed you could grow vegetables all year round, but you have to have the correct varieties. Also you have to fix your soil right. Something nobody knows how to do. I’m currently building my own worm farm to make my own humus. The story is on, or will be on, the BLOG eventually to make good soil. For example we found Tropical Emperor leaf lettuce the best, but lately they have not been growing well in the summer warm months and so I’m experimenting with some MUSTARD SPINACH and MUSTARD LETTUCE varieties. It’s a bit soon, but on my BLOG ( http://westernbelizehappenings.blogspot.com ) will shortly take some photos, as both of these are growing well out here in Western Belize in Hillview. Whereas my other winter favorite Tropical Emperor lettuce is doing lousy this summer. I’ve got some mysterious critters, crows or birds or something stealing my young seedlings that I transplant though. So I’m trying to go to bigger seedlings, in bigger seed trays to overcome that problem. Plus I’ve shifted my seedlings into a more protected area for starting. Hot summer month varieties is where the most research needs to be concentrated, but it is still early years yet, to figuring it out.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

The story is that 3 days before ZELAYA was shipped off to EXILE in Costa Rica, his henchman, went to the TREASURY with approved demands for $40 million dollars the newspapers in Honduras are saying. Forget the guy's name, but he is on Zelaya's negotiating team in Costa Rica. At any rate, he went in demanding with proper authorizations from ZELAYA, $40 million of government tax revenues. He did not state for what PUBLIC PURPOSE? The kicker was that the money was not to be wire transfered, or by a bank draft, but as in money laundering in CASH to fit into suitcases and cardboard boxes. It took the bureaucracy a few days to go into gear, though the alarm bells were ringing. By the time they got to checking on this, Zelaya had been airlifted to Costa Rica. So the newspapers in Honduras have photos on the web, where the police went raiding the side kick of ZELAYA's, house. What they found shocked them. It wasn't the stolen $40 million dollars, but an office of computers for voter reconciliation for the counting for the REFERENDUM vote on changing the Constitution of Honduras permiting ZELAYA to run for another term in office again. Most Latin countries have had such trouble with dictators they have in their constitutions a requirement there is only one term per President. At any rate ZELAYA had won according to the voting computers, by voting districts with an 80% vote in favor. The thing is, there NEVER was the REFERENDUM as Zelaya was pre-empted and taken to Costa Rica. Talk about a bunch of criminal communists, socialists, PRESIDENTS FOR LIFE gang of swindlers, this bunch of ALBA Presidents are? The $40 million is still missing in CASH. ZELAYA won the REFERENDUM vote to run again for the Presidency, without any need of an actual on the ground referendum by the voters. Now how can Dean Barrow of Belize not smell a criminal? He's a politician, he should know one when he sees it.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

one foot by foot and a half high. Fits your kitchen table and will do hundreds of tea bags faster than you can do it smaller scale. http://www.sikripackaging.com/5b.html?gclid=CM2Wgqmz6psCFQY9xwodzlRh7w

For the Belizean entrepreneur looking to get into the tea bag making business, for herb teas, fever grass and medicinal type teas for exporting to gourmet markets. See website above.

Shades of Stalin purge trials and those of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. MASSIVE PURGE OF SENIOR COMMUNISTS IN CUBA by RAUL.----------------------------------------------------------------

Cuba's Raúl conducts purge by video

By Marc Frank in Havana

Published: July 15 2009 03:00 | Last updated: July 15 2009 03:00

It is not the stuff of Khrushchev unmasking Stalin, nor the fall of China's Gang of Four, but a three-hour film being shown to thousands of the Cuban Communist party's 1m members this summer has emerged as a rare admission that all is not well at the pinnacle of power in Havana.

The video footage is drawn largely from a March meeting of the Communist party politburo and features Raúl Castro, the president, sacking most of the cabinet he inherited from his ailing brother, Fidel, including prominent political figures such as Carlos Lage, vice-president and Felipe Perez Roque, foreign minister.

The presentation's main message, according to people who have seen it, could not be clearer: the state is watching and Raúl will not tolerate even the slightest breach of party discipline, any cosying up to foreigners, or a hint of disloyalty as he attempts to put his brother's revolutionary house in order.

The montage of footage from the meeting, recorded telephone conversations, surveillance video, photographs and testimony narrated by a state security official provides a rare glimpse of Cuba under Raúl, who formally took over from Fidel in February 2008.

Party faithful who are invited to screenings are not allowed to bring in recording devices, or even a pen and paper. A trip to the lavatory is forbidden, as is attendance by the public or foreign journalists.

But in interviews with the Financial Times, people who have attended showings recounted details of the presentation and what appears to be a concerted effort by Raúl to portray a number of his brother's prominent aides, including Carlos Valenciaga, Fidel's personal aid for almost a decade, as either foreign lackeys or politically -disloyal.

Mr Lage was viewed by many inside and outside the country as a future president, and Mr Perez as perhaps the next in line. Both were personally groomed by Fidel and held up as apparent examples of loyal and austere communists. Their dramatic fall from grace has left many puzzled and wondering if a political purge was under way.

Those involved in the scandal are uncontactable and plainclothes security agents have been observed surrounding Mr Lage's residence, presumably to keep the foreign media at bay.

In the video montage, the president is seen waving Cuba's constitution, demanding that it be respected, and changed where needed. He criticises the Council of State, a 31-member executive stamp much used by Fidel to govern, as having little, if any, practical purpose.

"If it [the council] can't be reformed it should be eliminated," he says, according to people who have seen the presentation.

Sitting in his general's uniform behind a desk scattered with papers, Raúl speaks of the importance of institutions and of following rules and regulations. He tells his new cabinet they have 90 days to put their domains in order and to set priorities. He says that, after that, he does not want to see much of them, as he assumes they can perform their jobs.

Later, he looks around the politburo and states: "I am now going to talk of painful things."

The president announces the arrest of Conrado Hernández, the Cuban representative of the Basque regional government's business operations, and reads Mr Hernández's confession, in which he says he informed for Spain's National Intelligence Centre, using his lifelong friendships with Mr Lage and other protégés of Fidel.

Mr Hernández details the information and favours he received from each man and the role each played in a clique of the disgruntled officials who considered Cuba's ageing leadership unfit to govern, a clique that included Dr Raúl Castellanos Lage - a former party leader, cardiologist and Mr Lage's cousin, who first became the target of investigations after he declared that stent placements for elderly leaders should be botched for the good of the nation.

"Don't worry, we arrested Castellanos this morning," Raúl says in the video.

The president asks the accused if they have anything to say. The best they apparently offer is ignorance of their friend's intelligence ties.

By this point some older theatre goers were rising from their seats to shout that the accused should be imprisoned if not shot for treason, witnesses at three different Havana showings said.

The presentation later features the wedding party of Dr Castellanos at the Ambos Mundos Hotel in Havana. The luxurious fiesta took place on February 23 2008, the day the politburo met to approve a new president, first vice-president and other Council of State members for their "election" the following day by parliament.

The clique had viewed Mr Lage as a sure bet to win the position of first vice-president, the second most powerful post after the presidency.

In the video, Mr Lage arrives at the wedding from the politburo meeting to inform Mr Perez on a hotel balcony that Jose Ramon Machado Ventura was named first vice-president, violating an order by Raúl to keep the news secret until the parliament vote. An infuriated Mr Perez swears and states that Mr Machado will ruin the country. With the party mood evaporating, Mr Hernández leaves to inform Spain's intelligence service of the decision, according to his confession.

Mr Hernández is in prison on charges of treason, as is Dr Castellanos. The cabinet members and Fidel protégés remain free. Mr Perez is working at an electronics factory and Mr Valenciaga at the national library, while Mr Lage remains holed up at home.

The apparent indiscretions documented in the presentation have been registered by younger members of the Communist party. But whether the message has been received as intended remains unclear.

"All these people were promoted by the party, obviously it shares the blame," one younger party member told the Financial Times.

In the time honored tradition of European exploitation of Africa, the Europeans are now trying to do the same in Latin America. Recent NEWS from the LATIN Spanish speaking television` channels reveal that the Europeans are trying to forment wide spread war in the American continent, starting first with Honduras. Ex – President Zelaya of Honduras is trumpeting on the airwaves for his supporters to rebel against the lawfully elected government of Honduras. He wants his supporters to blockade highways and destroy the economy of Honduran society, so he can make a return. The next NATIONAL ELECTION is only three months away and campaigning for a new President in Honduras should start soon anyway. In Honduras the Constitution forbids a President to run for more than one term. They have had a lot of experience with dictatorship. ZELAYA has lost about 5 months off the end of his ONE permitted Presidential four year term, through trying to take over as a President for Life tyrant in Honduras. ( see police find vote counts and fraud in supporters house for ZELAYA ) The Europeans see opportunity with the ALBA SOCIALIST/COMMUNIST ideological EMPIRE group of Latin America, ruled by PRESIDENTS FOR LIFE, tyrants or dictators. The ALBA methodology is to change the Constitution in countries after obtaining power democratically, change all the ARMY GENERALS and POLICE and then, change the constitution to perpetuate PRESIDENT FOR LIFE tyranny and persecute the voices of reason and debate. Most media outlets are seized by military force and confiscated, while the OPPOSITION are brutalized, or jailed, or forced into EXILE. The trappings of democracy are retained institutionally, but become a FAÇADE, or CHARADE, as done by Joseph Stalin of RUSSIA in Eastern Europe, as a sop to the International news media. The SPANISH speaking news channels are saying the Europeans are going to compete for the Latin American markets and resources, the same as they have done in AFRICAN countries. At the moment the starting point is Honduras and Central America, as the Europeans are instigating the taking of SIDES in Central America. The conflict is expected to widen dramatically in the American continent, with the interference of the Europeans in their war for markets and resources with the USA. South American analysts are warning of the DIVIDE and CONQUER tactics of the EUROPEANS, which they have used successfully for a couple of centuries throughout AFRICA. The Europeans are intent on making a mole hill into a mountain, inflaming passions. In BELIZE we worry, because there are a lot of FALSE lies and disinformation propaganda coming out of Europe. Whenever HONDURAS has had civil wars, or DICTATORS, Belize gets flooded with refugees and this is a strain on our social services, education system and limited financial abilities. Belize is more POOR than Honduras by comparison, as a country and an economy. We can ill afford a Honduran refugee exodus seeking refuge here, like in decades past. In the meantime, the OAS has been taken over by the ALBA group country FIFTH COLUMN appointees and Chairperson INSULZA ( a Chilean communist ) who stormed into Honduras recently, demanding a change of government, in the name of the Organization of American States, and was questioned recently by a Latin news reporter. What happened is that there are still a few democratically elected state governors and city Mayors in Venezuela, that do not belong to the Hugo Chavez totalitarian style of government. Chavez is choking them to death, by denying them their revenues, taxation, and other means to tend to their responsibilities. Chavez has already seized all the FREE television stations and media outlets in opposition to him in Venezuela. These governors and mayors in Venezuela went to the OAS and asked INSULZA to help them do their democratically elected jobs. INSULZA it was reported told them, he could not interfere with the internal affairs of a country in his position as HEAD of the OAS. Yet the same INSULZA has interfered in HONDURAS in an internal government matter, when ex-President ZELAYA was rejected by his own political party and government on grounds of Constitutional illegalities. Talk about a lying, double crossing scoundrel in the OAS, this INSULZA character is; but this is typical of the ALBA program of political subversion and EMPIRE BUILDING, for would be EMPEROR of Latin America, by President for Life aspirant Hugo Chavez minions. The EUROPEAN left is adding to this cacophony of lies and false propaganda to confuse the outside world and trying to use the HONDURAN focal point to stir up Central America to begin with, into a civil war, as countries will be forced to take sides. So say the Foreign Affairs ANALYSTS from the Latin American countries on television in Central and South America. What they say is BEWARE OF THE INTERFERENCE OF THE EUROPEANS in their war over economic resources with the USA. European DISINFORMATION IS BECOMING A TORRENT on the international scene. In the meantime, ZELAYA is encouraging his supporters to die, or get maimed for him in Honduras, while he stays safely in another ALBA EMPIRE capital of Managua, Nicaragua. So he treats the POOR. They are just cannon fodder to him. In the meantime, ORTEGA President of Nicaragua also prepares his fraudulent REFERENDUM to change the Constitution to allow him to run for President repeatedly, like CASTRO in Cuba and Chavez in Venezuela. The so called PRESIDENTS FOR LIFE CLUB, group called ALBA.

* From Pirates to Penny Gold Mine stocks in Belize. The opportunities are endless limited only to your imagination.

THE BELIZE GOLD RUSH IS JUST GETTING STARTED!

By Ray Auxillou, July 22, 2009

When we talk of the Belize Gold rush, we are not talking about the gold mine in the Southern Belize Alps. We are talking about something else. The smell in the air is of BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY. One can sense and feel the opportunities that are not yet being taken by residents and the new generation. As in all GOLD RUSHES, it will probably be IMMIGRANTS that will come to Belize to exploit our BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES. Belize is small, but not too small to develop EXPORT industries. Earning FOREIGN EXCHANGE is the GOLD in this early pioneering GOLD RUSH atmosphere. We are not as small as say Cayman Islands. Nor as Nevis, or St. Kitts. We are big enough to develop and build industries that will EXPORT and like CHINA, it is in the exporting for foreign exchange, that the new rich of Belize will come from. Belize has something that is unique, and that is a BRAND NAME quality. Something that is labeled, MADE IN BELIZE, or perhaps PRODUCED IN BELIZE, or PACKAGED IN BELIZE. We are unlikely to sell things by the millions, but surely small solid niche markets can be found. Whether you make it here in Belize, or import products and repackage, or combine things to make a new brand name; the thing is, the BRAND NAME of Belize, when attached to QUALITY and LOW PRICE will ALWAYS find a market someplace in the world. We lack sometimes a pro-active leadership type of government. We need some infra-structure. Electricity reliability, water reliability and of course in today’s business world, we need wide spread nationwide internet and telephone service. ( which we haven’t got ) Some of the facets of business require either a DUTY FREE ZONE, or BONDED WAREHOUSE areas, to repackage, or reprocess, or add value added technology applications before exporting on our Western Border, or the Southern border. I am mindful for instance, of the time during the PUP administration when the politicians looking for braggadocious sound bites announced a DUTY FREE ZONE along the Benque Viejo WESTERN BORDER. Thinking of starting several small export businesses, a few years later, the wife and I went looking for this ZONE to buy a lot, to build a BONDED WAREHOUSE, in which to do some ideas we had for export. We thought we could import stuff from Guatemala and Salvador and repackage and then export. We still talk about it, but nowadays we discuss buying a couple of lots in Melchor de Menchos across the border and indeed have even gone looking at them earlier this year. A shining example was GUYANA, which are reputed to be importing RICE in bulk from Guatemala and repackaging and exporting to the world. Alas, we found the boulevard on the edge of Benque Viejo Town that looks like it was built and designed to be such a FREE ZONE, but wasn’t. At least not yet. Without the ability to avoid the nuisance of dealing with bureaucratic customs border, red tape, the scheme collapsed in our efforts to find a way to do the business we had in mind. If you are going to re-export you certainly do not want to be paying customs duties on raw materials that are being imported to be value added processed for EXPORT. You would lose the edge of a competitive LOW PRICE. That must be at least six or seven years ago and in all that time since; there has been no political leadership to create and fulfill the innovative promise announced by politicians back then. Then of course there is the lethargy in political circles of the CABINET in dealing with a simple thing that costs NO MONEY, to make available bus service to terminate at the Border Immigration point building, instead of the park , two miles or more away in the center of Benque Viejo Town. To date, nothing has been done by the Transportation Minister, or the CABINET on this issue. It is this laziness, this apathy, the lethargy, the lack of commitment in our political circles that is holding DEVELOPMENT of our GOLD RUSH back. Much of these things, do not even cost money, so that is not an excuse. Just vibrant progressive leadership, which seems to be sadly lacking. TIME PASSING of course for people on government salaries mean nothing to them. They get paid anyway. Weeks turn into months and months turn into years and still nothing progressive gets done by our politicians. Yet to the hungry business opportunist pioneering in the GOLD RUSH of Belize, a person must get RAPID and very fast returns, or STARVE, or go look elsewhere to another country. The pioneers of this GOLD RUSH are coming in right now in trickles. This could turn into a FLOOD given encouragement. New generations of business entrepreneurs are being FRUSTRATED by the LACK OF ACTION and leadership from our CABINET, who seem inordinately involved in get rich quick schemes of their own person. CORPORAL PUNISHMENT is a subject being debated right now in our school system. In Saudi Arabia they have a dress code and volunteer RELIGIOUS POLICE, that carry a bamboo cane and go around whipping people on legs and arms that are not morally correct in their dress code on the streets of their society. I think what I would like to see in Belize is a BUSINESS POLICE, a person who can volunteer with a quarter inch, six foot long bamboo cane and would go around WHIPPING, legally by law, CABINET POLITICIANS that are not aggressive enough in developing our nation of Belize. Something to think about. ( hic! grin! ) In the meantime, a recent article by Trevor Vernon, explained the advantages of HONDURAS over Belize in a comparison study, in which the business atmosphere is progressive, the prices of living half of what they are in Belize, infra structural services like telecommunications and energy supplies, less than half the cost in Belize. The wife said after reading that; maybe we should go investigate HONDURAS. Indeed so we should, my nephew did and is succeeding. If we were not so old? I love the atmosphere of the GOLD RUSH in Central America, the myriad OPPORTUNITIES that are open to getting rich, or at least financially comfortable middle class. I guess I’m a pioneer entrepreneur at heart, one of the GOLD RUSH crowd. Just disappointed at the failures of leadership in CABINET circles of both our administrations, past and present. If a project does not seem to feed the self-enrichment appetites of the port of Belize City politicians, controlling our government, they seem not to care, or be interested in the rest of the development possibilities of the rest of the country? We take one step forward and slip back four steps it seems like?

There is a recent news announcement that several Belizeans have had their training, transportation and living costs met by the South American country of Colombia, on a TRAINING course for teaching Spanish as a second language, on the famous Colombia vacation island of San Andres.

* ZELAYA'S voting fraud was set up and found by accident, while police were searching for $40 million stolen from the tax revenues by Zelaya right hand man.

HONDURAS MEDIA OUTLETS ANNOUNCE FIND OF SECRET CACHE OF CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM VOTES, ALREADY DONE, IN WHICH ZELAYA WON ! THE REFERENDUM THAT NEVER TOOK PLACE!

The story neither the USA media, or the Miami Herald are telling, or the Europeans. ZELAYA had the referendum votes already counted in his favor, BEFORE a REFERENDUM even took place.

ORTEGA OF NICARAGUA IS MAKING HIS COPY CAT REFERENDUM SET UP AS WE WRITE THIS. This also lends credence that Chavez stole Venezuela referendums and elections complaints and also those by Morales in Bolivia and Correa in Ecuador. It is all a FRAUD for ALBA Presidents for Life Club of tyrants.------------------------------------------------

http://lagringasblogicito.blogspot.com/2009/07/more-corruption-ballot-counts-are-in.htmlLa Gringa's Blogicito Tropical gardening and living in La Ceiba, Honduras. Neither is easy for this expatriate American woman.

How can the ballots be counted, you ask, since the vote never took place?

¡No importa! as we say in Spanish.

Agents of the DNIC (criminal investigation) discovered ballots, computers, and certified vote counts in an office rented by Enrique Flores Lanza, member of Zelaya's mediating team who you may remember made a L. 40 million cash withdrawal from the central bank four days before the election was to occur. The count sheets neatly tallied the yes and no votes, the blank or disqualified votes, and the totals for various mesas (polling places).

You won't be surprised to learn that Zelaya's proposal won heartily with approximately 80% affirmative votes.

In fact, Zelaya's people should have probably used a little more discretion to make it believable. In one tally sheet that was reported, 'yes' votes totaled 450 while 'no' votes totaled only 30. Since a Gallup poll conducted from June 30 to July 4 reported that 63% of the respondents were against the fourth ballot box for a Constitutional Assembly, the fraudulent results should have been a bit more modest in favor of the cuarta urna.

Though this find was widely reported in the Honduran media, complete with reporters on the site of the investigation in process, here we are three days later and I'm willing to bet that you haven't heard about it yet from the media in your country.

Thanks to a reader, I found that Alberto de la Cruz of Babalú has already done my investigation work for me. He found only one one-sentence report in USA Today. You can read his report and a translation of the only detailed Spanish article that he was able to find. Since then, Lucianne and American Thinker have picked up the story.

Rick Moran at American Thinker wrote this: It appears certain that the Honduran people narrowly avoided the prospect of a Chavez clone setting up shop as a dictator for life in their country. Only the courageous actions of their political, military, and judicial leaders avoided catastrophe.

I am ashamed of our president and government that they continue to support Zelaya at the expense of Honduran freedom. And I am ashamed of our media who obviously backed the wrong horse and are too arrogant to admit it.~~~~~~~~~~~~~Big surprise: Today at the 30th anniversary of the Sandista revolution celebration, Daniel Ortega, President of Nicaragua, put forth the idea of a Nicaraguan referendum "to have a better constitution".~~~~~~~~~~~~~How can Honduras get a fair shot if none of the major media outlets are reporting the facts. It is NOT acceptable to dismiss news by saying, "Oh, it's coming out of the Honduran media therefore it must be false."

Reporters, come down and find out for yourself, please! Our newspapers have political leanings just like all of yours. That doesn't mean that everything they report is false.

Even better would be if some countries would send their own investigators to follow along with Honduras' investigators and report on their findings. I have no doubt that Honduras' government would welcome that outside cooperation with open arms.

to the UK tabloids in the hope that they might find it as funny as I did!!! :-)July 19, 2009 10:01 PM safariman said... It's really frustrating to live in Honduras, and see the lack of interest of outsiders in the truth. Even more, the widespread acceptance of "News" snippets from such stalwart paragons of Truth as Chavez' own TV Company Telesur, which has been widely accepted and kindly re-broadcast by CNN and Reuters.

I've lived 14 years in Honduras. I'm proud of Honduras, and the way they've handled a serious, delicate situation.

We'll make it fine.

From TegucigalpaJuly 19, 2009 11:19 PM K said... You are doing excellent work. I really appreciate this information and analysis. But how many of us who trying to get more truth out are only reaching the few that already 'get it'? I spent all weeking thinking, what else can be done? There is a food chain of participants that has grown organically. I see myself as someone who has mostly focused to identify audiences in the US that weren't listening but might (but am very disappointed in my progress) Is there any way that more discussion about approach and coordination can help? I'm feeling like a grain of sand in a big ocean. Frustrated already, I admire the persistence of others. The Honduras people have no choice but to stay determined.I'd be interested to discuss in direct messages, I am accessible on youtube.July 19, 2009 11:20 PM Aaron Ortiz said... WOW!July 19, 2009 11:46 PM Anonymous said... Is there any way that Honduras can send these computers to an independent agency to prove that Honduras is not setting up Zeyala?

If I recall right didn't Colombia send the FARC computers to Interpol to verify they were authentic.July 20, 2009 4:38 AM Anonymous said... Your comment headline says "don't be shy". Well, you're all full of it... you quote garbage that has not one element of truth to it. If you really lived in Honduras, you wouldn't be backing the Neo-Nazi regime that kicked out the legitimate president of the country. Nothing, I repeat NOTHING, will change the fact that Evil is now in power in Honduras... so rant all you want rich white folks... support the Devil, you vile creatures.July 20, 2009 7:01 AM Anonymous said... I only left my previous comment as "Anonymous" because I linked in from Digg... and I didn't want to have to go through the third-degree just to post a comment on this evil website. My email is tomhancock@privacyharbor.com.July 20, 2009 7:02 AM Anonymous said... the major news media are standing with obama and chavez. They don't want to embarrass themJuly 20, 2009 8:35 AM Patty said... This is the body of a letter I sent this morning to the Miami Herald. We have written our politicians about this. Maybe it is time to write our newspapers.

Why are we not seeing articles like this in the Miami Herald? This was printed, with pictures, in La Prensa. If a reliable newspaper like the Herald would publish articles like this, perhaps fewer people would believe the trash put out by CNN abd report the truth. Check out the other articles by this author, whom your Twitter Team already follows. Every word can be verified. It should be required reading by your reporter in Honduras. Maybe then she would start talking to people in Honduras, rather than parrotting the CNN/Telesur reporters.July 20, 2009 10:36 AM Dan D. said... I'm proud of Honduras, for actually enforcing its own constitution, an example my country (the USA) should take to heart - that's my guess as to why our moron-in-chief sided with Zelaya.

Even if the media isn't running the story, the news is getting out, slowly but surely.

One thing though, if someone could provide an accurate, non-computerized translation of the Honduran Constitution, as there is none available, it might help the cause.July 20, 2009 10:48 AM kj_culver said... I live most of the year on Roatan, HN and am currently in the US.....I am so ashamed of the American President...after all he is a lawyer and should look to the Honduran laws and constitution! I, for one, am e-mailing a synopsis of the events to all the US people in my address book!July 20, 2009 11:21 AM Anonymous said... To Mr. Hancock,I am one of the supporters of this evil blog, as you say. It seems you didn´t even read the post. How do you explain having results for a voting process that never happened?Please pull your head out of your a$$ for a minute and READ what it says.As for CNN en Español, just let me remind everyone that they were the ones to kindly bring El Salvador their new leftist president.

Cristina in GuatemalaJuly 20, 2009 12:10 PM Anonymous said... The picture looks like an ordinary school classroom lab. These computers do not appear to be voting machines.July 21, 2009 11:34 AM La Gringa said... Voting machines?! Hah! This comment shows how so many people have the wrong picture because they are comparing Honduras to the US. Voting machines in Honduras? Oh, please. Give me a break.

If you don't read Spanish, you are never going to know the whole story, but you can try one of the translating sites. They aren't always accurate but at least you'll understand a bit more.

These computers were to be used for tabulating the votes and were taken from a school. They were in an office near the Presidential Casa, rented by his Minister of the Presidency...the one who withdrew L.40 million IN CASH two days before the election.July 21, 2009 11:54 AM Honduras Sprout said... I agree that it is so common to assume US standards. Even hard for me sometimes and I've lived in Honduras a few years now.

Why does information like this not really make the headlines outside of Honduras? Did it? This is the kind of information that can help people (internationally) to understand why Zelaya needed to be removed prior to the poll. And why, when things like this come out, along with the laundry list of charges and evidence against him, it doesn't make Zelaya stand down? Is the man so delusional or is he fearful of the repercussions from Chavez if he was to stand down? It's like he's damned if he does or damned if he doesn't so he figures he might as well go down fighting. Does that make sense?

I'm glad I have you to turn to for info LG, because I have been having a hard time wrapping my brain around this chess game lately. Part of me wants to tune it all out, but I know I shouldn't.July 22, 2009 12:24 AM Post a Comment Links to this post No Oil for Pacifists There is a lot happening in Honduras right now, and the so-called Main Stream Media is only telling part of the story, as it lobbies for the left. The evidence continues to mount over Zelaya's traitorous acts, Honduras cuts off ... Posted by Bob in Los Angeles at July 22, 2009 1:00 PM Corrupt, Bullying Nicaraguan Ruler Emboldened by Obama's Demand ... Nicaragua's corrupt, authoritarian president Daniel Ortega is now pushing a change to his country's constitution to extend his rule. Ortega is a former. Posted by Hans Bader at July 22, 2009 12:31 PM Corrupt, Bullying Nicaraguan Ruler Emboldened by Obama's Demand ... by CEI Staff July 22, 2009. Nicaragua's corrupt, authoritarian president Daniel Ortega is now pushing a change to his country's constitution to extend his rule. Ortega is a former communist backed by Venezuela's anti-American strongman ... Posted by ross at July 22, 2009 12:31 PM